


A Cool Burning

by ohmy



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-25
Updated: 2015-03-20
Packaged: 2018-03-15 00:46:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3431810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmy/pseuds/ohmy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She was fire. She was ice. She was passion. She was intensity. Standing in a burning building didn’t scare her, but the burning that Laura’s touch left on her sure as hell did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

She sat at her computer clicking away at whatever website she stumbled upon that day and the girl behind her gave a loud sigh as she turned in bed, one eye open. 

“Really, Cupcake, why do you have to be doing that now?”  
“I said don’t call me that.”  
“Sure thing, Sweetheart.” 

Laura gave a loud sigh, closed the browser window on her computer and stared at her desktop background for a while. It was a picture of LaF, Perry, Danny, and her. 

LaF had their right hand waving in the air while their left arm reached around Perry to muss up Laura’s hair, Perry was leaning into LaF (it was subtle so she pretended not to notice) with the type of smile that only comes from laughing, and Danny was smiling down at Laura as if she was only person who mattered in the entire world. 

It was nice to look at, but it made her sad. 

“Are you looking at that picture again?” Carmilla spoke in a thick, tired voice. 

“I hate that Danny wont talk to me…” Laura said quietly as the other girl sat up in bed. 

“You did break her heart.” The moment the words left her mouth she regretted them because the look on Laura’s face was enough to break even the hardest of hearts. 

“Screw you, Carm.” She replied curtly, wiping at her eyes. 

“Hey, hey, hey. No, no. I didn’t mean that.” Carmilla rose from where she sat and walked to stand behind the other girl, hand outstretched as if to comfort her but she quickly rethought that decision and her hand fell limp to her side.  
“It’s just… I mean, I’m sorry Cupcake but you did break her heart. You’re the one that said you should just be friends, and you’re the one that didn’t speak to her for an entire month after she told you how she felt about you.”

Laura stayed silent, cursing herself for confiding in the other girl. 

If Carmilla didn’t know any better she would’ve thought that the other girl was ignoring her, but she did know better. She knew that Laura knew she was right. 

Any other day she would love to rub Laura’s face in the fact that she, Carmilla Karnstein, was indeed in the right. But she couldn’t, not today. She took a deep breath,

“Look… Laura, there’s something I think… I need to talk to you about…something…” She trailed off as the light haired girl turned in her chair, a confused look on her face because Carmilla stuttered. As far as she was concerned, stuttering was something that Carmilla Karnstein did not do. 

“I’ve been doing some thinking and–” both girls gave a start as they heard the fire alarm go off, followed shortly by LaF running past their door down the hallway shouting Sorry! Repeatedly as Perry followed yelling incoherently at them, all the while still managing to get her residents to up and leave the building. 

Laura looked at Carmilla with an apologetic smile as she grabbed her keys,  
“We can finish that talk later, okay?” She spoke softly, or maybe that was just because there was an alarm blaring all around them. 

“Okay,” was all the dark haired girl could manage as she watched Laura walk out of the room. The door stopped just short of closing, and she debated about going over and closing it because if LaF was the cause of this, she knew it couldn’t be that bad. 

What a sick joke, she thought to herself bitterly as she closed her eyes and ran her hand through her hair. 

“Um, Carm?” Carmilla nearly jumped out of her boots at the sound of Laura’s voice. 

“What’re you doing back here? There’s a fire alarm.” Her voice shook. 

(For the love of God… Play it cool, Karnstein!) 

The tiny girl looked at her like she had her head on backwards and she suddenly felt self-conscious.  
“What?”

Laura crossed the room with a chuckle, “That’s exactly why I’m here, I can’t just let you stand in a burning building.” She reached out for the other girl as she spoke, “So, are you coming?” 

Carmilla gave no reply as she took the other girls hand and followed her out of the room. 

Standing in a burning building didn’t scare her, but the burning that Laura’s touch left on her sure as hell did.


	2. Chapter 2

Silas University was a strange place in the early hours of the morning when it wasn’t quite light out. There were some bats that still glided through the cool, humid air, but there were also the sounds of birds singing softly. 

But the strangest sight by far was the brooding silhouette of Carmilla Karnstein, who was never seen before 4 in the afternoon. 

“Feels nice, doesn’t it?” Laura spoke softly, not quite wanting to break the spell that their surroundings cast. Most of their fellow residents must have agreed because there seemed to be an eerie sense of calm that blanketed the mass of students. She smiled up at Carmilla and gave her hand a squeeze. 

“Yeah, it does.” The dark haired girl managed, and she was thankful for the semi dark because she could feel a blush creeping its way onto her face. 

(Keep it together, Karnstein!)

“Do you want to go get breakfast?” Laura looked at her with a funny expression, “What?” Laura laughed, “What?” the slightly taller girl was confused. 

“You’re being nice to me.” Laura said simply.

“Oh shut up, Cupcake. Do you want to eat or not?” The words didn’t have nearly as much bite as she intended because she couldn’t manage to keep a smile from forming on her lips. 

Laura wriggled her eyebrows, “I could eat.”

(Is she…?) 

Carmilla decided to go with it, “You better stop that, sweetheart, or somebody might get the idea that you’re flirting with me.” 

“Who says I’m not?” the smaller girl looked at her with a challenge in her eyes.

“Shut up. I’m hungry, lets go!” Carmilla turned away in order to hide the grin spreading across her face. 

Maybe she wasn’t so hopeless after all. 

**  
Barbeque. 

Barbe-freaking-que.  
“How did you even manage to find a barbeque place that is open at 5:30 in the morning?” 

Carmilla looked up at her and laughed, “I have my ways, cupcake.” Laura looked at her.   
“Do you really want me to explain to you that this place really isn’t open and that I just so happen to have made friends with the guy that owns this place and just so happens to have conveniently given me a key because he knows that this is my favorite food?”

“Barbeque?” 

“Yes, Laura, we are in fact eating barbeque.” She said it with a smirk. 

“Shut up, I mean, I just never expected barbeque to be your food of choice.”

“Oh yeah? What did you imagine then?” 

Laura stopped to think, a forkful of brisket forgotten in her hand.   
“Well, considering someone who’s so…” She looks at Carmilla who’s looking back with a raise eyebrow. 

“Go on.”

“You know what I mean! You’re just kinda… weird.” Carmilla stared at Laura. She wasn’t actually offended; she just wanted to watch the other girl squirm. 

“Smooth, Sundance, smooth.” 

“God, just shut up… What I meant was that I would’ve figured your favorite food to be something… refined I guess.”

Carmilla gave a throaty laugh, 

“What? You think that my favorite food would be a gorgeous place setting of escargot, fresh baked bread, the finest cheese, and a bottle of pinot grigio?” 

Laura looked nervous, unsure if she had actually offended the other girl. 

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, that is beyond superb, but if I’m going to be honest I like barbeque because of the lack of refinement. I mean, what with how my mother raised me I guess I look at it as a type of… rebellion. That and I have a thing for the sauce.” Carmilla cracked a smile.

“Jesus, you’re a dork.” Laura breathed out a sigh of relief as she went to take a bite of her food. Unfortunately for her, she must’ve been more nervous than she realized because she missed her mouth completely and sent a heap of her brisket onto her shirt. 

Carmilla stared at her with wide eyes, a large smile forming on her features as she began to laugh loudly. 

“Don’t you dare…” Laura warned with an attempt of a growl that only made Carmilla laugh all the more, tears forming in her eyes.

“Carmilla!” 

More laughter.

“Carmilla Karnstein, you stop that!” The smaller girl nearly shouted in frustration, only to be rewarded with a new fit of laughter. 

The laughter suddenly died out as Carmilla felt a wet smack against her cheek.

“You did not just throw food at me.” Laura cowered under her gaze. 

“You know the saying…” Carmilla paused as she watched the other girl gulp, “an eye for an eye!” She shouted as she flung a spoonful of potato salad at the smaller girl, who gave a loud squeak. 

“Oh it’s on!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, so I don't have a set update schedule because I'm just getting the feel of writing fanfic again, and I'm also waiting to see how many of y'all are wanting to read this! If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to message me on tumblr at the url: broodygaykennedi


	3. Chapter 3

She hated to feel useless. In her mind there was nothing else that was worse in this world, and yet here she was stuck listening to Laura cry on her side of the room and stuck with the knowledge that she couldn’t help her. She knew that she wasn’t who the other girl was crying over, her heart was broken and there was nothing Carmilla could do about it. 

Carmilla closed her eyes and thought back to the morning that her and Laura shared. 

It was like a dream.

Until they ran into Danny on the walk back home from the barbeque place, well it was more like Danny ran into them.   
**  
Laura was rambling on about something, hands waving in the air like a mad person, and Carmilla couldn’t take her eyes off her.

“Watch where you’re going!” Carmilla snarled as she felt herself hit the ground, looking up she saw just who it was that ran straight into her.   
“Oh would you look at that, the jolly green giant couldn’t seem to-”

“Carmilla!” Carmilla looked over at Laura with wide eyes,  
“Did you just yell at me?”

“Leave Danny alone, she’s just…” Laura trailed off as she eyed the other girl in her shorts, sweater, and sneakers.

“Out for a run.” Danny finished for her as her eyes burned holes in the dark haired girl. 

“Yeah then run straight next time.”

“Maybe you should just stay out of my way.”

“Oh and what exactly are you referencing because I don’t think you’re just talking about run-”

“Carmilla!” She felt her fingers intertwine with Laura’s as she was pulled back and away from the redhead. 

“Let’s just go home, okay? Danny’s not…”

Danny cut in wearing a sour expression, “worth it, I know.” Laura paused mid-step, grip loose on Carmilla’s hand. 

“Danny, please… let’s not do this, now. It’s cold and it’s early and I-”

“Whatever, Laura. Have fun with your little girlfriend over there.” The taller girl spat her words and shaking her head she began to run again. She spat out her words with so much venom that Carmilla was convinced that if words could kill, she and Laura both would’ve been dead. 

Laura stood there, still as a statue as she watched Danny run past them and into the distance. 

“Laura.”

“Laura.”  
“Hm?”  
“Let’s go home.” Carmilla’s voice was soft, and she squeezed Laura’s fingers to grab the other girls’ attention.   
“Okay.” 

She couldn’t stand the way Laura’s voice shook and had the sound of being ready to break.   
**  
It had been such a good morning until that point. In fact, Carmilla was pretty sure that it would fall under one of the best morning she’d ever had.

(Also only one of the few mornings she ever had.) 

But now she was stuck laying in bed, trying to give Laura privacy as the other girl cried. 

She couldn’t stand it. 

“Laura.” Carmilla rolled over, “Don’t cry about Danny, she was a jerk to you and you don’t need to feel bad about it.” 

Laura sniffles came to a stop, “It’s my fault… if I would’ve just told her that I loved her too-”

“Then you would’ve been lying, Cupcake.”

Silence. 

“Laura… Please tell me you would’ve been lying.” She felt a lump in her throat at the rising possibility that perhaps Laura did love Danny back. 

A sob echoed through the room and before Carmilla knew it she had crossed the room, sat on the other girls’ bed and pulled her into her chest.  
“I’m so stupid.” Laura sobbed into her.

“No, Cupcake, no you’re not.” 

(I’m so stupid.)


	4. Chapter 4

“For fucks sake!” Carmilla snapped as she threw her book down onto the ground next to her bed. 

“Carm?” Laura’s sleepy voice made a rush of guilt flood through her body.

“Sleep, Cupcake, I’m fine.” 

“No, no,” she gave a large yawn while looking towards the clock, “I’m up! It’s 6 anyways, so I could probably get up. Class and stuff, ya know?”

Her guilt just wouldn’t leave her alone, “It’s Saturday.” 

“I’m going… to the…” Carmilla watched as Laura struggled to find words in her sleep-deprived state, 

“Gym?” she finished for her, a grin spreading itself across her features. 

“Shut up.”

Carmilla laughed, “How’re you feeling?”

Laura wavered cheeks tinged red, “I um… I’m okay. I kind of over reacted, I think. I just hadn’t had the chance to talk to anyone about it and I just…”

“I get it.” Carmilla answered shortly, although she didn’t know why. 

She never understood why she was always so short with Laura; she never really deserved her snarky quips. Well, she didn’t always deserve it, but sometimes it was too easy. 

“You could’ve talked to me.” 

“I didn’t realize that we were actually friends, Carmilla.” 

“Well what the hell do you call what we’ve been doing the last few months?” She shouldn’t sound so hurt. She shouldn’t be so affected by the cold attitude coming from the other girl. It’s her fault because she was the one that was cold and rude and belittling to the other girl for the majority of the time they knew each other. 

But she was. 

And she knew why. 

Sometime within the last 3 months her and Laura’s relationship changed, and things were nice. They could carry a conversation for longer than 30 seconds that wasn’t a fight, and they actually started to intentionally spend time together.

Carmilla wasn’t sure when she started to see Laura differently but she was sure as hell aware of it now. She could hardly keep her eyes of the smaller brunette and she was nearly sure that the other girl was looking at her too.

Until last night. 

“So what now? About Danny, I mean.” Carmilla noticed how Laura had remained silent, slowly gathering her thoughts with guilt written across her face for how she snapped at her. 

“I overreacted, Carmilla.”

“So you don’t love, her?” She hated the hope in her voice. 

“I… I don’t think so. I mean, I think I did, at one point. But over the last few months I hadn’t seen her and I just… She was so mean yesterday, and I was feeling guilty, and I overreacted.” Laura was breathless from her ramble.

Carmilla was breathless because of Laura. 

(Maybe there is a chance.)

(Shut up, Karnstein. Keep your head on your shoulders!)

(But maybe there’s a chance.)

Carmilla couldn’t win an argument against herself unfortunately, and before she knew it her head was pounding. 

After a long moment of silence Laura finally spoke up, “Carmilla are you okay?”

“Just tired, Cupcake.” 

“I’d say go to sleep, but I know listening to me is the last thing that you- What’re you doing?” Laura’s voice rose an octave as she watched Carmilla rise from her bed, stride across the room towards her own bed, throw back the few blankets that she had, and slide into bed next to her. 

“Sleeping?”

“I didn’t say with me!”

“Well whom else would I sleep with?”

“Why do you need to be sleeping with anyone?”

Carmilla smirked, “A little flustered, Cupcake.” 

“Shut up, I am not. Just don’t steal my pillow.” She pointed a finger a the yellow pillow already under the other girl’s head as if to say ‘give it to me!’

“Laura…”

“Carmilla…”

“Laura…”

“Carmilla, pillow, now.” Laura narrowed her eyes at her roommate in attempt to be intimidating. 

“Easy there, spunky. You might strain a muscle.” Carmilla smirked as she turned over facing the other direction looking out into their room.   
Laura’s face burned red as she struggled to find words to say, mouth opening and closing several times. She apparently couldn’t find the words to express her disdain because she huffed rather loudly as she rolled to face the wall.

The room was silent for a solid 10 seconds before Laura finally spoke. 

“Okay fine! Use the damn pillow… for tonight!” 

Another 10 seconds passed,   
“Why do you always have to steal it?” She asked Carmilla.

Silence. 

“Carmilla.” Silence.   
“Carmilla.” Laura could not believe that Carmilla would actually ignore her while she was sleeping in HER bed.   
“Carmilla, are you seriously ignoring me?” 

“If I remember correctly, Cupcakes are inanimate and don’t speak.” A sleepy voiced Carmilla replied. 

Laura turned to glare at her roommate but found that she was still facing away from her. 

She huffed and rolled back over to face the wall. 

She would win an argument one day. 

One day. 

But not today.


End file.
